Roland "Commander" Sykes
June 1st, 1953 - March 10th, 2008
Wizard, Bit Twiddler, Philosopher, Teacher, and most fun of
all...
The Bus Driver for ADAPT
From: Martina Robinson
My good friend Roland Sykes died this morning. He was a colleague of mine from ADAPT; we’ve spent many nights in smelly jails together struggling for disabled people’s freedom. He was also a major force behind Disability In Media Everywhere and DIMENET, a disability centered internet server. I and many other people referred to him as Reverend Roland. I don’t what know his denomination was; I just know that he was ordained by some branch of Christianity. When I was a starry-eyed, love struck 20-year-old, I asked him to co-facilitate my wedding along with a rabbi friend of mine, Sanford (who was also an ADAPT member). This would honor the faiths of both myself and my now ex, who happens to be a Jew. They agreed and we were so happy.
It’s a very good thing that my ex and I didn’t get married, but the proceeding scene illustrates just how cool Roland was. He didn’t care that I wanted to marry another woman and he didn’t even care that she was able-bodied (which is way more than I can say for many of my ADAPT friends). He just wanted me to happy.
I’ll miss him and his big, white bus terribly. It’s hard for me to believe that I’ll never see his Grizzly Adams grin again. My world is a little emptier now as I try to deal with one more loss. It seems like this is happening more and more often lately and I really need a “death” break to preserve my sanity.
Martina Robinson
